Customer Reviews

Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song

5 star:		(171)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Perhaps I am not the best person to review the quality and accuracy of the songs in this book/audio player (I would leave that to Rick Johnson of Osprey Ridge Studios who created the Hearbirds Course on CD available at [..] but as the former publisher of Waite Group Press [..] I must say that this is one of the most innovative and fun to use products to appear in book publishing in a long time.

The way its put together is really creative - the electronic device glued strongly to the back cover is available at all times as you turn the pages. The system is minimalist which is its real charm. - a rocker switch increments an odometer like counter up or down. The number is keyed to the number on the bird page. In the middle of the rocker is a push button that starts the song playing. One more button controls the volume. That's it!

The illustrations are very nice, soft watercolors, unlike the hard edged and brighter drawings found in traditional field guides like those from Peterson and National Geographic. The descriptive text about each bird is short and to the point, my only complaint is that its gray color is not easy to read on older eyes. Yet that is minor compared to the enjoyment I got just turning the pages and pushing the button.

When I was at borders a crowd formed around me as they heard the bird calls - many thought a hawk had been trapped in the building. I highly recommend this book (and the price is right).

Reviewing "Bird Songs" is a bit like reviewing a talking horse. It's so amazing to hear it talk, one overlooks what it is saying.

The songs are wonderful; accessing them is a travesty.

There are two components to this item, the book and the player. The player is a solid state device glued to the back cover of the book. The 250 bird songs in the player are known to the player only by a reference number (1 to 250), which is shown in the player's LCD window.

To hear a song, one touches the play button once to awaken the device, then, by depressing an up or down key, you scroll to the reference number of the desired song. Pressing Play then plays a recorded snippet of the selected bird's song. In short, to hear a song, one must first know its number, and then one must find it.

And herein lies the first major flaw. It is a royal pain to find the reference number of a song. The book has a miserable index, organized alphabetically by common name, that only gives the page number of a bird. One must then go to the page to find the (different) reference number for the song. There is no simple way to relate page numbers to song numbers. And the index itself is difficult to use, as it is not only organized only by common name, but there is no grouping of similar species, so a Marsh Wren is under M and a Canyon Wren is under C. If you want to look up Loon, better look under C for Common Loon. All in tiny, light type. Arrrgh.

Once one has the reference number, the second flaw becomes obvious. Player scrolling acts much like setting a digital clock, first scrolling slowly, then quickly. The numbers wrap around, so one can get to say, 249, from 1 by going backwards. Thus, theoretically, one should never have to scroll more than 125 numbers. It takes a minimum of 15 seconds to scroll 125 numbers. Be prepared to spend a lot of time fiddling with the scroll buttons.

The book. Well, the pictures are nice. The organization is bizarre, by habitat, and there are no range maps, just vague descriptions. But you aren't buying this item for the book.

The songs themselves are fascinating. The recording of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker is almost worth the price by itself. And, the Amazon price is very reasonable.

As a (very) amateur birder, I am continually frustrated by hearing birds I can't see and not having a clue as to what that bird might be. This neat book links the description, the drawing AND the sound!

I think it would be an aid to more accomplished birders who try to describe bird calls to others, a joy to children just learning about birds and a help to the avian-challenged rest of us.

I have been birding for a couple years now and I love it, but it is so confounding to hear a really interesting bird call and not know what on earth it could be. This book does for the ears what a regular field guide does for the eyes, and it helps an enthusiastic novice like me get into birding even more. Not to mention that it's just cool and very easy to use. My only wish is that they would have included more calls in each recording, as often the call in the book is a specialized mating or distress call and not necessarily the one you'd be most likely to hear in the field. But I guess they had to go with what they had, and it is quite amazing to get 250 bird calls in one volume, plus pictures and descriptions. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who loves birds or loves someone else who loves birds.

I am an avid Birder,have over 1000 books on birding in my collection and several tapes and other bird song recordings and recently (May 24,2007) wrote a review on "The Singing Life of Birds" by Donald Kroodsma. That book is extremely complicated,but astute and definitely one for very experienced Birders with a lot of knowledge already learned from years of studying bird song.
However;this new book is something entirely different. It is excellent for anyone who is interested,and just wants to start learning the basic songs of birds.From this book you can quite quickly,and with very little effort,get to identify any bird around your home.cottage,park or anywhere else you hear birds calling or singing.
This book takes the concept that has been employed for years with childern's book;namely pictures along with recordings to go along with them. When I first came across it,I thought it was just a kid's book for that reason. I opened it ,played a few songs ,and was immediately impressed. It covers the songs of 250 birds. Hence, just about all that a person ,who wants to learn how to identify most of the birds they are,are ever going to find locally. This book is so well conceived and put together that kids as young as a few years ,can use it as well as adults. In other words, this GEM of a book is for anyone with a interest in bird songs.
To anyone who is new to birding,here is one thing you can count on when you are wondering which one of the multitude of bird books that are on the bookshelves,should you buy. If you see the name Jon Dunn associated with it,like this is,you can be sure you are making the right choice.
I can tell you how good I think this book really is. If you leave it laying around ,and someone who picks it up,and they hear birds calling in the area;they will immediately try to identify it with this book. Watch their excitement when they succeed. Now for the real good part;sitting outdoors ,with birds around,you'll soon discover ,if; say there are Chickadees around,by playing their song,they will come right in close to you.If you hear a bird ,but can't see it;but you have found its song;play it a few times,and the bird will pop up and show itself.
There are a lot of reviews here,with lots of good comments.Although most are from people who are just beginners or average birders,that is very good, because that is who this book is for. There is lots more "stuff" around for expert and very knowledgeable Birders,but nothing as simple and down to earth as this book.
There are several other reviews that make points that might make you wonder if this book is as good as I have said.Believe me; these points,while some can't be denied, are nitpicking ;and shouldn't discourage you from getting it.A book as good as this ,for someone who wants to get started learning bird song has been a long time coming.
While "playing" with this book in the store,a few people gathered around me,and were enthralled with what I showed them about this book.Two of them bought a copy;and they weren't even looking for a bird song book at the time. And not only that,the cost is terrific!
Enjoy listening to and knowing which bird you are hearing!

I'm a birder, and like to have ALL the birding books. This book has a coolness factor, but definitely something to have, show, and use at home, or give as a gift to another birder. It is too heavy and bulky to take along, and the birds are not organized taxonomically. They are organized by habitat. I also found that there is the 'usual' eastern U.S. skew to the birds that were in the book. So, this is an interesting book that I will add to my birding library. I'm not even sure how much of a research source it will be. I wonder how long it will be before this technology makes it to a usable field guide. That will definitely be a usable item - not just to identify a bird song in the field, but to play the bird song to draw in nearby birds.

The recordings are good quality and the book is very pleasant to the eye, one page per bird, attractively done. However, the number of birds are limited and you might only find a very few of your local birds present( or maybe only one of their relatives), and you will not get the different calls of those birds. It is a little "gimmikey' perhaps. But, i am glad i have it. It is fun and easy to use. It should be an appreciated gift to a beginning birder, or to interest a young person, or as a "coffee table" conversation book.

I purchased this book for my 3 year old grandson for Christmas. He can already recognize some of the birds just by their song. Others, he will ask for by name to hear the song. The best thing is when bedtime comes and he wants to stay awake, ten minutes listening to the birds and he is sound asleep. I hope he never figures out the correlation. Everyone who comes to the house likes this book. My 25 year old son wanted to know why I didn't buy him one!

Have you ever read those descriptions of bird songs in bird guides that say that "the male gives a squeaky whistle, the female, a low quack", or "a broken series: prrrrrp, prrp, prp, prp"? You can't tell very well what the bird in question may sound like, but with this book, you really get it. OK, the shortcoming is that there aren't hundreds and hundreds of songs, but there are enough to be worth the price and start to get a real appreciation for listening and remembering even the commonest birds. It was a really great gift for my birdwatching Dad.

This is a wonderful book, especially for grandpas and grandmas to read (and play) for little ones. Beautiful artwork and fascinating sounds. Some birds are not listed as you'd think, however. You'll find "Robin" under "American Robin" and "Cardinal" under "Northern Cardinal." If you can't find the bird you're looking for right away, Google the name you know it by and its formal name will come up.